God Abhors Corruption: Some Thoughts on Acts 5:1-11with special reference to the South African Countercorruption Efforts

Abstract

Corruption has become a buzz word the world-over today. South Africa is no less affected by it than are other countries. Many counter-corruption measures have been devised from a political perspective with no visible results. This reflection is an attempt to introduce a religious intervention. The article argues that the narrative of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts: 1-11) has all the elements of corruption as we know it today as well as a decisive response to it. Redaction criticism is employed in reading the narrative of Ananias and Sapphira with particular reference to the South African counter-corruption efforts. The reading reveals that God abhors corruption, this being inferred from the ‘double-deaths’ of the corrupt couple. A conclusion is therefore reached that drastic action against perpetrators is imperative and that trustees of state authority who fail to act against corruption and its perpetrators do not deserve to be rewarded with office